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This is a guest post from Mr Aditya Patkar, Marketing Director, Plus91

A few Sundays ago , I was privileged to be invited by Dr. Nikhil Datar, a pre-eminent gynecologist and medico-legal expert to witness his premier talk on Patient Safety. It was hosted by IMA Dombivali and over 40 doctors turned up to hear Dr. Datar’s talk. Dr. Datar had recently returned from UK where he attended a program organized by WHO on Patient Safety. I was there because Plus91 Technologies believes in making patient centric software solutions which don’t just automate the clinic or hospital , but also improve quality and service.

The doctors quickly realized that they need to reflect and close loopholes in their own practice, so that they could ensure patient safety. Sometimes we are so focused on the trees, that we lose sight of the forest ! The Q and A session was very interactive , and all doctors left the seminar with a lot of food for thought.
As a software company involved in producing intelligent Healthcare software solutions , patient safety becomes a vital cog in what we are doing .

1. Plus91 creates solutions which ensure and promote safety
2. The unique patient safety features we offer allow us to explain to doctors why are products are better than the others in the market
3. Using Plus91 products helps doctors to get patients more involved in their own medical care - allowing patients to feel safer and better informed.

So what does patient safety entail? It covers a lot of ground , right from something as basic as washing your hands before doing a physical examination ; to something as complicated as giving instructions to your assistants during bypass surgery. They key learning was the need for everyone to be aware of the fact that medical care is a highly complex enterprise and that things can go wrong ; and we need to improve communications and processes to prevent minor errors from becoming major issues.

Simple techniques like reading the names of the medicine aloud; using color coding on various instruments, and storing patient records in a neat and systematic manner can help provide better quality care to the patient. Being aware of the possibility of errors can help you prevent them very effectively, as you take corrective action. Of all the cases which result in a complication, in only about 1% is this a result of negligence. Most are a result of preventable errors – and the majority are not individual failures , but system failures.

A lot of good work is now being done in India in this field by numerous players. The ones which Plus91 Technologies is directly involved with include Dr. Nikhil Datar, PIET (Patient Information and Education Trust), PEAS (Patient Education and Awareness Series), HELP (Healthcare Education Library for People) and Dr. Malpani who is organizing a conference in October in Mumbai called Putting Patients First. As technology pervades healthcare, I can already envision many places where Plus91 can actively help improve patient safety standards. The possibilities are exciting , not only in their scope and challenge, but because this is one place where we can actually claim that we saved a human life – and working towards this goal inspires us with enthusiasm and energy !